Worker survives trip through sewer pipe

He's found mile away 90 minutes later

by Glenn E. Rice - Oct. 13, 2010 12:00 AMMcClatchy Newspapers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A contract worker examining a sewer drain was swept through the 24-inch pipe Tuesday morning - then found alive about 90 minutes later after traveling more than a mile through the system.

A city worker and firefighters heard the 27-year-old man scream for help, popped open a manhole cover and found him about 9:30 a.m., curled up in a fetal position at the bottom of a 12-foot-deep chamber.

Rescue workers called in an air ambulance to take the critically injured man to a hospital.

They loaded him into the helicopter about 10 a.m., nearly two hours after he vanished.

He was suffering from hypothermia, and he may have ingested sewage, South Metropolitan Fire District Chief Randy Adams said.

The 5-foot-8, 127-pound man was wearing a safety harness. It was unclear how he got swept into the sewer system.

Other workers saw it happen and called for help. Rescuers asked the city to shut down water pumps while they searched the system.

Rescuers using city maps of the sewer system began searching the area, removing manhole covers as they worked their way north and south from where the man vanished.

Three rescuers heard his cries while searching near a lake at the Creekmoor Golf Course. Rescuers lowered a firefighter into the sewer chamber to get the man out.

Firefighters covered him with multiple coats while waiting on the medical helicopter.